FOLEY+v.+SPECIAL+SCHOOL+DISTRICT+OF+ST+LOUIS+COUNTY

Kelsey Cirmotich Joann Wagner Samantha Knight FOLEY v. SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OF ST LOUIS COUNTY Daniel FOLEY and Margaret Foley, as parents of Clare Keely Foley, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Defendant-Appellee. Argued Jan. 15, 1998. -- August 14, 1998 **Background**: Clara Foley, an eleven year old with mild mental retardation, was placed in a private school by her parents. An evaluation team determined the special education services Clare needed and the Foleys demanded those services in Clare's classroom but SSD refused, “construing state law as precluding public school educators from providing special education services on the premises of parochial schools.” SSD offered dual enrollment, in which Clare could travel to the public school to receive her services. The Foleys accepted under protest and requested an IDEA hearing in which it was determined that the Foleys voluntarily placed Clare at the private school after SSD offered Clare a free appropriate public education.

The decision of the court is that Clare and her parents have no individual rights under IDEA to the special education and related services at a private school because states are required only to spend money on the class as a whole, not individual students under the 1997 Amendments. Even if the 1997 Amendments were read to grant private school children rights to special education services, mandating them in private schools would be inconsistent with Missouri law.
 * Decision/Rationale: **

This case sets limits on “free and appropriate” education where private schools are not necessarily included if the parents choose to send their child to a private school when the services needed could easily be given in a public school setting.
 * Impact on Education: **

IDEA mandates all schools, public and private, to provide special education services. (T/F)
 * Quiz Question: **